Bible, in Slavonic - photo 1

Bible, in Slavonic

Lot 121
09.12.2020 00:00UTC +00:00
Classic
Starting price
£ 20 000
AuctioneerCHRISTIE'S
Event locationUnited Kingdom, London
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ID 470100
Lot 121 | Bible, in Slavonic
Estimate value
£ 20 000 – 25 000
Bible, in Slavonic

Biblia. 1581

BIBLE, Slavonic. Biblia sirech knigi vetkhago i novago saveta. [Ostrog: Ivan Federov, 12 August] 1581.



First edition of the Bible in Slavonic. A feat comparable to the Luther Bible in terms of its cultural import as well as linguistic normative effect, this rare landmark of Russian printing was prepared by the great pioneer of Russian printing Ivan Fedorov under the auspices of Konstantin, Prince of Ostrog, who obtained a copy of the manuscript Bible of Gennadius. He also collected a large number of Greek and Slavonic manuscripts and editions, and with the help of assistants 'he tested the Slavonic text by the Greek and sometimes by the Latin, and substituted modern expressions for those which were obsolete or unintelligible and corrected errors' (Darlow & Moule). Variant 'B' with the colophon in Greek and Slavonic dated 12 August 1581. Cyrillic Books 35; Darlow & Moule 8370.



Folio (298 x 193mm). 627ff (of 628, lacking the penultimate leaf of the Table), Biblical text complete. Title, part headings and tables printed in red and black, engraved initials and tail-pieces, engraved arms of Konstantin Ostrozhkii on title verso, and Federov's engraved device in colophon (title defective with losses to woodcut border but not to text, remargined and with part of the text on the verso supplied in manuscript, lower outer corner of initial 10ff torn off and repaired with manuscript integration of lost text, several ff. repaired in the margins with occasional tears to text repaired (no further losses), a few leaves repaired at gutter, one detached, spotting, damp-staining). 18th-century calf, front cover panelled in blind (endpapers, brass corners, straps, clasps and catches renewed, extremities worn). Provenance: several 17th-century ink marginalia perhaps from the circle of Avvakum Petrov (protopope of the Kazan Cathedral, who led the opposition to Patriarch Nikon's reforms of the Russian Orthodox Church, 1620-1682) - Pomeranian community of Old Believers (stamp on first two leaves).

Place of origin:Russia
Auction house category:Books
Address of auction CHRISTIE'S
8 King Street, St. James's
SW1Y 6QT London
United Kingdom
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09.12.2020 – 09.12.2020
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